Orkney Dark Island (Bottle)

Brewed by Orkney (Sinclair Breweries)
Style: Old Ale
Stromness, Orkney, Highlands & Islands, Scotland

Dark ruby brown, gentle sticky 1cm head, burgundy hints. Nice deep color! Initially, the aroma is very mild, subdued, subtle (you have to fight for it), but as it warms (or at it reaches room temperature since it was already close to warm), there’s this huge maltiness for the strenght that develops. Dense malt aroma, floral with those typical scotch ale elements you can think of from the peaty malt to the drying out finish. It even allows itself to be yeasty, mostly apparent on the nose, feels like a pie crust. Body presents fine ample deployment, fine bubbles which last a long time. Loong malty aftertaste, mild tart bite which I’m not a fan of. Leather notes in the bitterness. It never tries to impress all while being well balanced. This one has "quality made" written all over it, especially at such a low ABV. Impressive without trying!

Looks like raisin water; water that’s had raisins soaking in it for a few hours. (I do this for breads.) Not much of a nose to it. Dark toast... a little tobaccy. Maybe this is an old bottle. There’s not a lot of sniffy power. Tastes like burnt toast with butter. Old socks--? I don’t much care for this. It’s not very interesting. Maybe I’m looking at something that’s lost a step due to age. There’s a little charred wood, a bit of dark malt sweetness like just a hint of prune. A hop kiss along the sides of my palate. That funky shoe yeast keeps popping up. Negligible carbonation. Disappointing.

toffee, chocolatey, and peaty aroma, a hint of fruit/cherry; toffee, smoke, roasty and musty malt flavors; bitter-ish and somewhat long, maybe a bit dry finish; strong flavor but rather thin palate; tasty

Reddish dark color. Thick head. Semi-sweet chocolate nose. Woody, caramel flavoring. Hint of bitter. Nice.

Very dark, violet tinted beer with a thick light brown head. Light aroma of nuts, sweet malts and light fruitiness. edium bodied with a fruity, malty character along with a hint of spicy hop flavour, but very low bitterness. Slightly sour aroma. A good session beer.

A very smooth drink, pouring a dark mahagony color with a rapidly dissipating brown head. A mild aroma of sweet malts and light fruits... cherries grapes. A very thick mouthfeel, and it’s here that the Scottish maltiness comes through. Very light hopping. Finishes somewhat tart. An interesting drink.

Cocoa colored head, dark black body. Nose is fruity, vinous, sensations of cherries, grapes, other dark fruits, but mildly, plus some spiciness, cloves, etc. Medium carbonation. Solid malt, and minimal hop presence. Thick and full, a perfect fit for a damp, cold, dark island, an ideal comfort for a gloomy atmosphere. Finish is bitter, but overall, if a bit too light in body for my taste.

poured dark brown to black with small white head that didn’t last. aroma roasted malts, molasses, toast, cherries. flavor grapes, choc. malts, hops, cherry cola, a slight bitterness on the tip of tongue and a hint of caramel at the finish. not to bad